RE RE TU seven homesTU EC EC E E IT C IT C CH H FI CH H FI AR RC OF AR RC OF

EA EA

ES ES R R Central Park West Apartment 6

Martha’s Vineyard House 12

Soho Loft 20

Desbrosses Loft 26

Garrison House 32

Flatiron Loft 40

Colorado House 50

Project Details 64 Unique to their site and their owners, each of these seven residences exemplifies Architecture Research Office’s approach to design.

A home is at once a world unto itself an entire family? How can craft inform and a frame for understanding the a modern house? Are there ways larger world in which we live. Imparting architecture can move our daily lives rhythm to life, a home organizes daily towards sustainable practices and routines and activities. Whether an energy efficiency? avenue or a wilderness lies outside the Over time, a great home becomes front door, your home mediates richer and more compelling. As the your experience of the environment. seasons and years go by, as it shapes The architecture of a residence is an and accommodates the lives of its exchange between inward and outward owners, a home should become more lives, between the personal and closely connected to the people who worldly. A home influences all aspects live there. No single surface or form, of your life, from mental health to atmosphere or material yields this carbon footprint. effect. What is required instead is an We work with light, landscape, alignment of qualities unique to each color, materiality, tactility—and yet a home and each individual. Our design home is always more than a sum of its methodology brings forth these elementary parts. We want to know: qualities through a deep understanding How does a house exhibit a sense of of the client. This is essential to place? How can an apartment embody creating architecture of engaging spirit a single personality or the values of and enduring character.

5 Central Park West Apartment new york city the owners of this apartment envisioned a serene retreat high above Manhattan. The apartment is located on an upper floor of a historic tower with expansive views that include Central Park and the Hudson River. Its plan comprises 2,500 sf of rooms arrayed around the building’s periphery. Lattice screens designed by ARO and milled from fiberboard unite the apartment as both functional and decorative elements. Situated between the living and sitting rooms, the screens mediate daylight and views. The appearance and opacity of each screen alters with the viewer’s posture and position in the apartment. Stationary lattice panels line the interior walls of the dining room and master bedroom. LED lighting from the ceiling rakes the lattice panels to emphasize their texture. The project also represents the owners’ commitment to resilient design practices. The apartment includes many sustainable materials and products, such as recycled cotton insulation, FSC-certified white oak flooring and sycamore veneer, Pennsylvania slate, and the restored original steel kitchen cabinets.

7 8 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 9 10 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 11 13 Martha’s Vineyard House chilmark, ma

the owners of this 2,700 sf house have of walls made of reclaimed granite blocks. been summering in Martha’s Vineyard A generously proportioned low wall since the 1970’s. On the dramatic water- made of the same blocks creates a seating front site of their former home, ARO area beside the front door. created a new house, winter-ready and A modern translation of New England closely attuned to the surrounding clapboard siding is the house’s most landscape. notable detail. Employing conventional Two L-shaped walls clad in Alaskan siding construction in an inventive way, yellow cedar enclose each of two this tongue-and-groove detail sets volumes—one dedicated to the owners, cedar boards at varying depths to cast and a second to guests. Between them, compelling, evolving shadows. Vertically a third glass-enclosed volume parallels oriented zinc panels comprise the north the shoreline and contains the living and west façades. Both wall types enter and dining rooms, which are separated the house, blurring the boundary between by a fireplace. Within each volume, within and without. One cedar-clad floor-to-ceiling windows open to distinct wall wraps from the garden through the views of the scrub oak forest and the sea. house and out towards the sea, from the An entry garden, planted with flowers and sheltered entry garden to the deck facing a flowering Hawthorn tree, is composed the horizontal expanse of the ocean.

14 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 17 18 21 SoHo Loft New york city

atop this former warehouse in during the day, as the sun moves to the New York’s SoHo neighborhood, ARO west. These areas each feature specific created a vast interior landscape. Its owners materials used in bold, industrial formats might relish the chance to entertain a to distinguish their individual programs crowd, but they also love the serene calm within the larger open plan. In selecting they find in the outdoors. ARO responded materials, we paid close attention to with a design that balances significant qualities of light, color, texture, reflectivity, open spaces and ample daylight with and transparency. Among the materials intimate, room-like spaces and distinctive in use are schist, bubinga wood, cleft slate, natural materials. and blue Bahia granite, each possessing The loft includes the building’s two distinct natural patterns and complex upper floors plus its rooftop. New openings textures. in the existing floors create a light court Two staircases tie the loft together, to connect all three levels. one connecting multiple levels within the ARO distributed the main living spaces light court, the second linking the interior on the top floor according to the daily of the loft to the rooftop garden. The and seasonal cycles of the sun. At dawn, the latter staircase is a work of functional bedroom receives sunlight from the east. sculpture, with cascading risers partially The kitchen, dining, living, and finally the supported by a single floor-to-ceiling library space receive light progressively sheet of glass.

22 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 25 26 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 27 Desbrosses Street Loft New york city

elements of old and new unite in this loft on Tribeca’s Desbrosses Street. Working within two floors of an industrial ware- house, ARO created a home for both young children and an extensive photography collection through a process of subtraction. Demolition opened a two-story living space and revealed historic iron, concrete, and timber structures, which we preserved and juxtaposed against a series of layered and intersecting planes. The result is a series of dramatic spaces united by a palette of reclaimed materials. Light from a double-height wall of windows reaches far into the loft. Glazed panels at the southwestern corners of the bedrooms afford views through the living room windows to the west. Strong sightlines crisscross the loft. When open, full-height pivot doors for the bedroom spaces nest into the wall, enhancing the open character of the space. A library mezzanine, crafted from the warehouse’s recycled timbers, is positioned between the two floors. A wide staircase adjacent to the kitchen offers a place where children and guests can hang out while dinner is being prepared.

28 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 30 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 32 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e Garrison House Garrison, Ny a weekend retreat for a small family, the house serves as a wilderness outpost for hiking, gardening, and relaxing. ARO’s design establishes two overlapping, south- facing blocks that terrace the sloping site. The loft-like upper volume, glazed from floor to ceiling, houses living room, dining room, and kitchen. Bedrooms in the lower volume feature horizontal fenestration to frame the distant view. The proportions and spacing of windows, exposed framing and shelving are arranged in calculated rhythm to define the experience of Garrison House without interfering with views of the wooded landscape. Materials used throughout are modest and durable, from corrugated aluminum to composite lumber still bearing the manufacturer’s mill stamp. Garrison House’s low-profile design allows for an honest encounter with the forest.

35 36 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 37 38 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 39 40 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e Flatiron Loft New york city this residence adapts a former industrial space for intimate family life while also making room for an eclectic collection of art and furniture. The apartment is one 5,600-sf floor plus one-third of the floor below, connected by a mezzanine library that acts as a pivot between the two floors. A row of columns and a system of sliding fabric scrim and solid panels divides the upper floor between open and intimate spaces, balancing privacy with openness. The latter half of this loft apartment is subdivided by distinct functions: sleeping, bathing, exercising, studying, playing. Highly tactile materials play off the apartment’s industrial origin. Custom leather tiles floor the dining area, which is partially enclosed by a beeswax screen that filters daylight. Throughout most of the apartment, the building’s old-growth pine planks are retained, still bearing stains from former industrial and artisan tenants. Blackened steel bookshelves tie the mezzanine to the balustrades leading up and down while the handrail is itself a pale holly wood. Tucked below, a guest bedroom on the lower floor is separated from gallery space by a wall of water-white glass panels.

43 44 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 45 47 48 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 49 Colorado House Telluride, co

this retreat for an extended family lies on a remote mesa within a 120-acre parcel of land. Accessible by an eight-mile dirt road, the house is located on a knoll at the edge of a meadow. ARO’s design weaves the family’s love for the outdoors into the daily life of their home, creating a frame for the dramatic Rocky Mountain landscape. At 10,000 sf, the house accommodates everyone in spacious living and dining rooms. The kitchen is the hub of activity. Each of the five adjoining bedroom suites has its own unique vista. To precisely calibrate these views and determine the plan of the house, ARO built a digital wireframe model of the site’s topography. Durable materials plus elegant detailing and solid construction all reinforce this house’s connection to the landscape. Exterior walls of weathered steel shingles rest on sandblasted concrete foundations. The shingles’ warm, ruddy color relates the house to the region’s historic mining structures. Their scale and pattern denote the monolithic quality of the walls while also lending a subtle directionality. At certain points, these shingles slip inside the house, blurring the boundaries between in and out. Interior walls are white plaster, to present the family’s art collection, while the floors are a continuous surface of polished, radiant heated concrete.

50 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 52 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 53 55 57 58 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 61 63 ARO has designed over thirty homes encompassing a broad range of clients, sites and budgets.

Home: Central Park West Apartment Home: Garrison House

Location: New York City Location: Garrison, NY

Size: 2,500 sf Size: 2,800 sf

Awards: n Design Citation, New York State Chapter, Publications: Oculus; A+U; House & Garden; American Institute of Architects; Global Architecture; Architectural Digest Germany; n Finalist, Apartment Category, Architectural Review; Weekend Retreats Best of Year Awards, Interior Design. by Susanna Salk; At Home in the Hudson Valley by Allison Serrell. Publications: Interior Design; Praxis; The Architects’ Newspaper; Planning; Dimensions; Re-crafted by Marc Kristal.

Home: Flatiron Loft

Home: Martha’s Vineyard House Location: New York City

Location: Chilmark, MA Size: 6,200 sf

Size: 2,700 sf Publications: Metropolitan Home; Architectural Digest; Global Architecture Houses; A+U; Awards: n American Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum Museum; Loft by Mayer Rus. n Merit Award, New York State Chapter American Institute of Architects. Home: Colorado House Publications: Boston Home; Arquine; Wallpaper*; Planning; Architecture; Architecture Lab. Location: Telluride, CO Size: 7,000 sf

Awards: n Record Houses for Excellence in Design, Home: SoHo Loft Architectural Record; Location: New York City n American Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum Museum; Size: 7,000 sf n Architecture Award, New York Chapter Awards: n National Honor Award for Architecture, American Institute of Architects. American Institute of Architecture. Publications: Architectural Record; House & Garden; Publications: Interior Design; Metropolitan Home; Architectural Digest Germany; Contemporary World Architectural Record; Lofts and Apartments; Interiors by Susan Yelavich; New Country House The New York Times; Architecture; by Dominic Bradbury; Art/Invention/House Contemporary Staircases by Catherine Slessor. by Michael Webb; Elements by Oscar Riera Ojeda and Mark Pasnik; Materials by Oscar Riera Ojeda and Mark Pasnik; The Smart House Home: Desbrosses Loft by James Trulove. Location: New York City

Size: 1,700 sf

64 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e 65 photography

Central Park West Apartment Raimund Koch; Paul Warchol

Martha’s Vineyard House Thomas Brodin; Elizabeth Felicella; Bob o’connor

SoHo Loft Paul Warchol

Garrison House Paul Warchol; william abranowicz

Flatiron Loft Paul Warchol

Colorado House william abranowicz; paul warchol

66 architecture r e s e a r c h o f f i c e